Breaking Through
by The Critic
Summary: What happens to Nakago after he dies? This shows his good side. Anti-Nakago fans, please don't hate me!! Please R&R.


He stood still as the sword pierced him through his heart. He didn't feel the pain. He couldn't feel the pain. His heart had been a block of frozen ice ever since that day. His tribe had been attacked. He had killed his own mother. Watched his only friend die. Released the invincible power that had been hidden inside of him all along, the power that had shunned him away from his tribe's only god. What good was it to have power? When you couldn't even save the ones you loved? There were no gods in the world. There was no good or evil, only power, and those too weak to seek it…  
  
No person is born evil. An evil person is constructed, by their surroundings or by the people around them. He closed his eyes as death engulfed him, his body and his mind. He no longer had a soul. Only the emptiness inside him, the raw energy coming from the unwanted power. How unfair it was. To have his dreams spoiled by a mere boy. So, in the end, he really was nothing after all. All the deaths, the killing, the suffering-it was for nothing.  
  
Taria. The name flashed through his mind like a distant memory at the back of his head. Taria. Beautiful, sweet Taria. She had been his only friend. The only one who hadn't mocked him about his family, his weakness, his character. And he had watched her die with his own eyes. Watched her in pain, in torture, too helpless to do anything. To helpless to save her. Taria. Taria. Taria. The ice around his heart grew thicker. He would never give in to the pain. Never. He was a god. He would never give in.  
  
Taria, a voice whispered at the back of his head. It wouldn't be long before he died. Perhaps they could meet once more, in the afterlife, or was fate too cruel even to grant that? Of course it was. Fate was always cruel. Wasn't his entire life proof of that? Wasn't it? Born with no father, a sensitive, helpless boy to his mother, shunned by the people around him, watched everyone die around him. What else could he become? He no longer had a heart. It had long since vanished along with every emotion he had ever possessed before the deaths. The killing. The suffering.  
  
He did not know how long he had stood there, rejecting the pain. Blocking the warmth of the memories. No, there was none. No, he couldn't give in.  
  
He took a silent breath, his last. He felt himself leave his body, the body pierced with the sword. He left it back on the cruel world, the world that had ripped every piece of his soul apart. And for the first time he felt a strange sense of peace, a feeling he had long since forgotten. A feeling so foreign it took over his whole mind. He let it take him.  
  
"Ayuru."  
  
He flinched at the voice. Was this a joke? He was dead. He was dead. He was dead. Why was someone calling him?  
  
"Ayuru."  
  
He opened his eyes and stared at the figure in front of him. Soft blond hair. Bright blue eyes. A smile bright enough to melt a frozen heart. But not his. Never his.  
  
"Taria." He couldn't stop the word from escaping his lips. "Taria."  
  
"Ayuru. You're finally here. I've waited a long time."  
  
He was silent. He felt nothing.  
  
"Ayuru, you can stop fighting now. You can stop fighting yourself. I've been waiting such a long time for you to come."  
  
He submitted to the barrier of his feelings. He wouldn't let her in. He wouldn't be disappointed and hurt and helpless again. Never again.  
  
"Please. I understand what you're going through. Please stop fighting yourself. All this time, the only person you were truly hurting was yourself. But now you can release the pain. You can free your soul. Don't you want to join me?" She smiled at him, her blue eyes luminous and filled with tears. "I have something for you." She held out a bouquet of brightly colored wildflowers. "Do you remember these? I gave them to you on your eleventh birthday, remember? Do you remember?"  
  
He closed his eyes. He didn't want to remember. Fate was never kind to memories. Inside he was screaming. He wasn't born evil. He hadn't wanted his powers. But life had forced him into his barrier; it had ripped apart his heart and tore out the feelings. It had destroyed him. This wasn't him. It wasn't.  
  
He opened his eyes and Taria was still standing in front of him, holding the flowers in her hand. She was so beautiful. Were they both finally free? Was he?  
  
She was still there. Taria. She had waited for him. Despite all that had happened she still loved him. Taria.  
  
He reached out a trembling hand and gently touched the flowers, closing his eyes tightly. Taria smiled and pushed them into his arms. She leaned over and kissed him softly on his forehead. "I never forgot you," she whispered in his ear. "And I've been waiting all this time for you to come. You're still my best friend, aren't you?"  
  
They were melting. The barriers were melting. The ice was disappearing. Soon they would be gone. His soul would fly. Soon he would be free. Soon.  
  
He opened his eyes and a lone tear slid slowly down his cheek. 


End file.
